The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(76)

No one had said that to her before. Well, her mother had, but mothers don’t really count—they have to say that to their kid.

She hadn’t been asleep the whole time. She had nodded off for a minute, but when she heard Frank talking about the train to D.C. and all the museums and monuments, she just listened to his comforting voice, eyes closed. She had never appreciated him before—he was more than just smart and good-looking, he was kind and gentle and fearless. Somewhere along the line he had developed a strong, beautiful body without being a jock, without seeming to be aware of it. Yes, she was discovering there was a lot more to Frank Downy than met the eye.

Fifteen

It had been three weeks since Cee Jay had visited her kids at the meeting that had ended so unpleasantly. It had been three weeks since Mac had hired a detective to get more information about what her life had been like over the past ten years in the hopes of getting a better grasp on what she might be after now. He’d called the detective a few times and had been reassured they were still in the data-gathering process.

It had been hard to be patient. He kept waiting for the other shoe to fall.

Finally a FedEx package was delivered to his Thunder Point office. It was filled with information, call logs from the detective’s office, a few pictures, some of the same public records Mac had accessed—records of marriage and divorce—and a bill. Seventeen hundred and eighty-seven dollars.

He gulped.

Then he sifted through the material. And just when he thought he couldn’t be surprised by anything, he was blown away. But there was one important thing missing. He called the detective’s cell phone. “I looked through all your material and sadly, it all makes sense. But where is she?”

“Is there a casino within two hundred miles?” the detective replied.

“What makes you think she’s still in the area?”

“Both women—Cee Jay and Maddy Crofts—came from the area and she’s not turning up anywhere else. She used a credit card in North Bend a week ago.”

“There’s a casino there,” Mac said.

“Want a wager?” the P.I. asked, laughter in his voice.

Mac wasn’t laughing. “I’ll pass. What does she want with me? Or the kids? We don’t have anything.”

“I can’t answer that, buddy. I can only tell you where she’s been and what she’s done. Good luck.”

So, was it all about gambling? Mac had considered many possibilities but never that one. How that could possibly involve him was a mystery. But, he’d have to know. He called the casino hotel in North Bend and asked for Cee Jay or Cecilia McCain and was told there was no one there by that name. He asked for Cecelia Raines and again came up empty. On to Madeline Crofts—no, again. But he struck oil with Antoinette LeClair, the fictional attorney.

“Let me talk to Cee Jay,” he said when she answered the phone.

“Who’s calling please,” she replied.

“Coos County Sheriff’s Department,” he said.

And then he heard her say “Cee Jay, it’s your husband.”

“What do you want?” she asked impatiently when she came to the phone.

“I think we should talk, Cee Jay.”

“And I think I’m all talked out.”

“We should meet. Or my next call could be to the Los Angeles County District Attorney.”

“I haven’t broken any laws!” she shot back.

“Oh, yeah, you have. And even if he doesn’t want to prosecute, at the very least he’ll sign out a warrant and let poor Mr. Raines know he’s not obligated to that alimony. So, would you like me to come to the hotel?”

Silence answered him. At long last she said, “I’ll be in the hotel restaurant.”

“I’ll be there in less than an hour. And don’t bring your attorney—no one’s filming Law and Order episodes today.” And he hung up.

He called one of the deputies who worked for him and asked him to cover the town. Then he texted Lou—he said he had to drive up to North Bend on business and asked her to cover the kids if he was tied up. And then he drove and was glad it took a while; he had to think.

In police work, he always had a strategy, a method of approaching a situation or suspect. A lot of his strategy was following policy, but some was pure instinct. But he knew so little about gambling and less about his ex-wife. He had three images of her—the young girl he’d once loved, the pretty young woman who’d left them so coldly and the beautiful and sophisticated woman who turned up a few weeks ago. He wasn’t sure who she really was. And while he could assume her appearance in Thunder Point had something to do with money, probably with a debt, he wasn’t sure of anything else.

As for gambling, he’d been to a few casinos. He’d even taken his Aunt Lou. Lou liked the nickel slots because she could play for hours, get mesmerized by the rolling cherries and other fruits, and do it on five bucks. He liked blackjack, but he never lasted long. He thought he had an exceptional memory and tried to remember card play to get to twenty-one, but the house beat him every time. But Cee Jay had obviously gone through millions in a few years. She wasn’t doing that at the nickel slots or two-buck blackjack table.

He drove through the parking lot surrounding the hotel casino, passing down each lane slowly. Twice. Her girlfriend, the fraudulent attorney, must have gone somewhere—there was no sight of the fancy car.